Alternative Crops & Enterprises for Small Farm Diversification

Alternative Farming Systems Information Center

United States Department of Agriculture

Agricultural Research Service

National Agricultural Library

January 2011

About this list: This list of alternatives was compiled using AFSIC reference request files, the subject files in our office, as well as previously compiled lists, most notably “Innovative Farming Idea List,” (1987) compiled by Nancy Grudens Schuck, Farming Alternatives Project, Cornell University and “Ideas for Alternative Agricultural Enterprises,” (1996) put together by the Missouri Alternatives Center. [See their Web site’s database of Extension and related on-line publications about alternatives: http://agebb.missouri.edu/mac/.] This list is not comprehensive, but presents some of the more accessible innovations available to farmers. What can alternative crops and enterprises do for my farm? The “Diversifying Cropping Systems” Bulletin for farmers and agricultural educators is a primer on planning diversification with alternative crops, agroforestry, and cover crops. This Sustainable Agriculture Network resource features “factors to consider before diversifying, specific diversification strategies and expert sources of information.” http://sare.org/publications/diversify.htm

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Where can I find information on agricultural alternatives? 1 To find out more about alternatives suited to your area, start by contacting your local or State

Extension office. A listing of Extension Office directories and alternative agriculture publication sites is included below.

2 The Alternative Farming Systems Information Center maintains the Alternative Crops and Plants Web site and publishes Great Places to Find Information about Farming Alternatives, both of which offer a selection of information-rich Web sites and organizations. http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/findinfo.shtml http://afsic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=2&tax_level=1&tax_subject=298

3 Agricultural Sustainability Notes Series: Questions to Ask About Alternative Crops (Washington

State Univ.) lists questions on economic and production issues to explore before selecting a specific crop alternative. http://pnw-ag.wsu.edu/AgHorizons/notes/sr3no1.html

4 Evaluating a Rural Enterprise (ATTRA) provides more detailed discussion about assessing farming

alternatives. http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/evalrural.html

5 A PRIMER for Selecting New Enterprises for Your Farm (University of Kentucky), a tool for

evaluating new enterprises for a farm or family business, is based on worksheets used to evaluate the “Profitability, Resource requirements, Information needs, Marketing decisions, Enthusiasm for, and the Risk associated with a new enterprise.” http://www.uky.edu/Ag/AgEcon/pubs/ext-aec/ext2000-13.pdf

6 The Small Farm Today “The Original How-to Magazine of Alternative and Traditional Crops,

Livestock, and Direct Marketing” http://www.smallfarmtoday.com/

7 Alternative Crop Suitability Maps (Illinois State Water Survey) presents "climate and soil requirements for alternative and traditional crops." http://www.isws.illinois.edu/data/altcrops/

8 Additional resources on specific agricultural alternatives may be found at your State Department of

Agriculture, crop and livestock associations, searchable publication lists and databases, as well as at your local and/or university library. See Resources section, below.

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Field Crops: Feed and Forage... • Bird seed (sunflower, proso millet, canary

grass, etc.) • Forage brassicas - turnips, rutabagas • Kochia

• Medics • Sainfoin • Switchgrass

Fiber, Fuel, Edible and Industrial Oils... • Borage • Broomcorn • Canola • Castor beans • Comfrey • Corn (for oil) • Crambe • Cuphea • Flax • Guayule • Jojoba

• Kenaf • Lesquerella • Lupine • Meadowfoam • Milkweed • Perilla • Safflower • Sesame • Sunflowers • Vernonia

Food Grains, Pseudocereals, Legumes, etc... • Adzuki beans • Amaranth (food and feed) • Barley • Buckwheat • Dry edible beans (fieldbeans) • Einkorn • Emmer • Field peas (food and feed) • Garbanzo beans (chickpeas) • Hops • Indian corn • Jerusalem artichokes (food and feed) • Kamut • Lentils • Malting barley • Mung beans

• Organically grown grains of all types • Peanuts • Pearl millet • Popcorn, white and colored • Psyllium (medicinal) • Quinoa • Seed production - registered and certified

seed, turfgrass, etc. • Sesame (seeds) • Sorghum (syrup) • Soybeans, incl. natto soybeans for tofu,

tempeh; and Edible soybeans (edamame) • Spelt • Triticale • Wheatgrass • Wild rice

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Specialty and Ethnic Vegetables: [See also Field Crops] • Asparagus • Baby vegetables • Cabbage • Carrots • Celery • Chinese water chestnuts • Cole crops (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels

sprouts, kohlrabi) • Corn, miniature • Fenugreek • Edible flowers • Garlic • Gourds, ornamental • Gourmet vegetables • Greenhouse production for out-of-season

crops • Heirloom varieties of any vegetable • Herbs - culinary and medicinal

• Horseradish • Luffa gourds • Mushrooms- agaricus, shiitake, oyster,

morel, etc. • Onions (transplants, shallots, sweet, early) • Organically grown vegetables of all types • Oriental vegetables • Peas and pea shoots • Peppers - specialty types (purple, hot, etc.) • Pumpkins • Red beets • Salad greens - mesclun • Sprouts (alfalfa, bean, etc.) • Squash • Sweet corn • Sweet potatoes • Tomatoes - specialty types • Truffles • Wasabi

Fruits and Nuts: • Apples, esp. Heirloom varieties • Asian pears • Brambles - blackberries, raspberries,

loganberries, blackraspberries, etc. • Blueberries • Cranberries, currants • Elderberries • Gooseberries

• Kiwi, hardy • Lingonberries • Melons - specialty types • Paw paw • Rhubarb products • Strawberries, day neutral types • Table grapes, seeded and seedless • Wine grapes for home brewing market

Horticultural/Nursery: • Bedding plants - annual flowers, herbs, etc. • Field grown cut flowers • Field grown mums • Flowers for drying • Greenhouse production • Hydroponic production

• Organically grown bedding plants and fruit trees

• Potted annuals • Native plants/wild flowers and seeds • Regionally hardy shrubs and perennial

flowers

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Agroforestry/Forest Products: • Bamboo • Christmas trees • Firewood • Paulownia

• Sawlogs • Tree seed collection • Wild nuts

Livestock/Animals: Game Related... • Beefalo (hybrid of buffalo and beef) • Buffalo (American Bison) • Deer - fallow deer, red deer • Elk (wapiti) for meat and antlers

• Fish bait - worms, minnows • Pheasant for release/restocking programs

and meat

Exotic Livestock/Minor Breeds/Special Uses... • Alpacas and llamas for pack animals, hair,

and pets • Boar • Butterflies (for gardeners) • Fox, red, silver, and blue • Goats for milk, meat, and hair (Angora) • Horses - draft horse breeding, miniatures,

exotics • Mink • Mules and donkeys • Ostriches, rheas, emus

• Rabbits for meat, lab animals, and hair (Angora)

• Reindeer • Sheep/Lambs for meat, wool, milk (for

cheese) • Snails • Veal, conventional and certified • Water buffalo • Worms (for composting) • Yaks

Poultry… • Balut (duck eggs partially incubated) • Chicken eggs partially developed (for Asian

markets) • Doves • Duck - meat and paté • Free range poultry of all types • Geese

• Guinea fowl • Organically raised poultry of all types • Peafowl/Peacocks (feathers) • Pigeons • Quail/Squab • Turkey

Aquaculture/Fishfarming... • Aquaponics (combining aquaculture and

hydroponic operations) • Bass, Trout, Catfish, Crayfish, Tilapia

• Watercress and other aquatic plants

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Pet and Medicine Related... • Dogs (guardian) • Guinea pigs

• Pet foods - crickets, mealyworms, etc.

Farm and Home Enterprises: Services... • Antique shop/Antique restoration • Boat storage • Direct marketing operations - U-pick,

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), farmstand

• Child care in country setting • Composting services and products • Custom machinery work • Custom planting and care of window boxes

and container annuals • Custom planting and care of vegetable

gardens

• Custom slaughter • Farm sitting • Gift shops • Pet motels for large as well as small animals • Religious services held on farm, e.g. sunrise

Easter services, weddings • Restaurant • Seed and supplies distributor • Small engine repair • Taxidermy

Recreation and Education... • Barn dances • Bed and breakfast • Campground • Chuck wagon • Fee hunting and fishing/game farms • Hunting, fishing, and nature hike guides • Lectures on herbs, gardening at farm

• Museum of old farm equipment on working farm

• Petting zoo • Sleigh rides with work horses • Tours for public, school children • Trail rides • Vacations on farm • Wagon trains

Value-added Products/On-farm Processing… • Cheese • Cider and other apple products • Confections and candles • Corn snack foods • Crafts • Dried flowers, cultivated, arid, wild • Dried Fruits • Fresh or stone ground grains • Furniture, e.g. outdoor chairs, picnic tables

• Honey and beeswax products • Meat processing, e.g., jerky • Sawmill • Soapmaking • Tanning hides • Toys from wood • Wheatweaving • Winemaking • Wool processing and spinning

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Resources Extension Office or Land Grant University Directories and Publication Sites 1 National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Cooperative Extension System Offices

http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/index.html 2 E-answers is a searchable Web site for research-based information on a wide range of Extension or

Outreach-oriented subjects http://e-answers.adec.edu/

3 Missouri Alternatives Center

http://agebb.missouri.edu/mac/index.htm MAC Link List of Extension information on Alternatives http://agebb.missouri.edu/mac/links/index.htm

4 Alabama Cooperative Extension (Auburn Univ.)

Publications (see Agriculture) http://www.aces.edu/department/extcomm/publications/

5 Univ. of Arkansas

Arkansas Agriculture: Specialty Agricultural Production http://www.aragriculture.org/specialty/ Searchable Publications Database http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publications/default.asp

6 Univ. of California

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/default.aspx Agronomy Research and Information Center http://agric.ucdavis.edu/ Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/

Cooperative Extension Service Vegetable Research and Information Center http://vric.ucdavis.edu/main/veg_info.htm

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7 Colorado State Univ. Cooperative Extension Publications by title http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/pubsb.html#ag Specialty Crops Program http://www.specialtycrops.colostate.edu/

8 Univ. of Florida. Cooperative Extension Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises http://smallfarms.ifas.ufl.edu/ EDIS topics, including alternative crops and livestock http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/topic.html Alternative Opportunities for Small Farms http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/topic_series_alternative_opportunities_for_small_farms

9 Univ. of Georgia. Cooperative Extension

College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. Publications http://www.caes.uga.edu/publications/

10 Univ. of Hawaii

College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. Publications http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/site/Info.aspx or http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/site/BrowsePubs.aspx

11 Univ. of Idaho

Animal Science http://www.extension.uidaho.edu/animals.asp Crop Production http://www.extension.uidaho.edu/crops.asp

12 Iowa State Univ. Agriculture and Natural Resources. Extension Topics http://www.extension.iastate.edu/ag/topics.html Extension Publications https://www.extension.iastate.edu/store/

13 Kansas State Univ. Publications and Videos Library

http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/library/DesktopDefault.aspx Kansas Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Alternative Crops (KCSAAC) http://www.kansassustainableag.org/ Reference Library http://www.kansassustainableag.org/library.htm

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14 Univ. of Kentucky

Cooperative Extension Service and Kentucky Agriculture Experiment Station. Online publications http://www.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs.asp New Crop Opportunities Center. Crop Profiles http://www.uky.edu/Ag/NewCrops/intro.html

15 Louisiana State University Ag Center. Research and Extension

Crops and Livestock http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/crops_livestock/

16 Univ. of Maine

Cooperative Extension http://extension.umaine.edu/ Cooperative Extension Publications Catalog http://extensionpubs.umext.maine.edu/

17 Univ. of Maryland. Extension Publications

http://pubs.agnr.umd.edu/ 18 Univ. of Massachusetts

Extension Agriculture and Landscape Program http://www.extension.umass.edu/agriculture/index.php/programs

19 Michigan State Univ. Extension

Area of Expertise Teams http://web1.msue.msu.edu/aoe/ Searchable Extension Database http://www.msue.msu.edu/portal/default.cfm?pageset_id=25744&page_id=25794 &msue_portal_id=25643

20 Univ. of Minnesota. Extension

Agriculture: Crops, Specialty and Alternative http://www.extension.umn.edu/topics.html?topic=4&subtopic=3 Agriculture: Alternative Animal Enterprises http://www.extension.umn.edu/topics.html?topic=4&subtopic=118

21 Mississippi State Univ. Cooperative Extension.

Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. MSUCares http://msucares.com/search.html

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22 Univ. of Missouri Agriculture Publications http://extension.missouri.edu/main/DisplayCategory.aspx?C=1#publications Alternative Crops http://www.psu.missouri.edu/cropsys/Alternative_Crops/

23 Montana State Univ. Cooperative Extension Service. Agriculture publications http://www.msuextension.org/Publications/ESCatalog/ANRPublicCatalogAGlist.asp Crop Publications http://www.msuextension.org/store/Departments/Agriculture-Topic-Categories/Crops.aspx

24 Univ. of Nebraska. Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Specialty Crops http://lancaster.unl.edu/ag/crops/special.shtml Specialty Livestock http://lancaster.unl.edu/ag/livespec.shtml Publication Catalog Index http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/pages/index.jsp

25 Rutgers State Univ. of New Jersey Cooperative Extension. Publications

http://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/default.asp 26 North Carolina State Univ. and Cooperative Extension

Horticulture Information Leaflets http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/ Growing Small Farms. Web Resources - Alternative Crops http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/chatham/ag/SustAg/altcropslinks.html North Carolina Specialty Crops Program http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/specialty_crops

27 North Dakota State Univ. Extension Crop Production http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/crop_production.htm ProCrop Crop Production Information http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/procrop/procrop.htm

28 Ohio State Univ. Extension Agriculture http://extension.osu.edu/topics/agriculture

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29 Oklahoma State Univ. OSU Extension Facts http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/View/Collection-297

30 Oregon State Univ. Extension and Experiment Station Agriculture Publications and Multimedia Catalog http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/results.php?cat=Agriculture Commercial Production Vegetable Guides http://nwrec.hort.oregonstate.edu/vegindex.html Northwest Berry and Grape Information Network http://berrygrape.org/ Oregon Small Farms http://smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/

31 Penn State Univ.

Agricultural Alternatives magazine http://agalternatives.aers.psu.edu/ College of Agricultural Sciences. Publication Subject Index http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/Publications.asp

32 Clemson Univ. Cooperative Extension Publication Search http://cufan.clemson.edu/br/aspx/searchmain.aspx

33 Univ. of Tennessee/Tennessee Farm Bureau

Center for Profitable Agriculture http://cpa.utk.edu/default.htm

34 Texas A & M Univ.

Horticultural Alternatives for Texas Agriculture http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/alternatives/hortalternatives.html Specialty Vegetables in Texas http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/specialty/index.html

35 Virginia State Univ., and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ. Cooperative Extension resources by subject http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/index.html

36 Washington State Univ. Cooperative Extension. Publications http://extension.wsu.edu/agriculture/Pages/default.aspx

37 West Virginia Univ. Cooperative Extension Center for Agriculture, Natural Resources and Community Development http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/

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38 Univ. of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension

Program Teams http://www.uwex.edu/ces/ag/teams/

Crops (select “fruits” or “vegetables”) http://learningstore.uwex.edu/Crops-C16.aspx

Other Resources for Agricultural Alternatives 1 The National Agricultural Library's AGRICOLA database

http://agricola.nal.usda.gov 2 The Agricultural Network Information Center (AgNIC) includes a searchable database.

http://www.agnic.org 3 The Agricultural Marketing Resource Center (AgMRC) identifies directories of value-added

agriculture resources, and it provides production and marketing information for many commodities and products. http://www.agmrc.org/directories__state_resources/ or http://www.agmrc.org/commodities__products/

4 Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA)

http://www.attra.org/ 5 Aquaculture information sources include:

AFSIC's Aquaculture Resources Web page (http://afsic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php? info_center=2&tax_level=2&tax_subject=295&level3_id=0&level4_id=0&level5_id=0 &topic_id=1410&&placement_default=0), the Aquaculture Network Information Center (AquaNIC) (http://www.aquanic.org/) and ATTRA's publication, Aquaculture Enterprises: Considerations and Strategies (http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/aquaculture.html).

6 The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy

http://www.albc-usa.org/

7 Australian New Crops http://www.newcrops.uq.edu.au/

8 Mid-Atlantic Regional Fruit Loop. (Cooperative project of State universities)

http://www.caf.wvu.edu/kearneysville/fruitloop.html 9 State Departments of Agriculture (USA.gov)

http://www.usa.gov/Agencies/State_and_Territories.shtml

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10 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service Plants Database http://plants.usda.gov/ Alternative Crops http://plants.usda.gov/alt_crops.html

11 Univ. of California Small Farm Program Specialty Crops http://sfp.ucdavis.edu/crops/ Includes the Specialty and Minor Crops Handbook; UC Vegetable Research and Information Center; UC Fruit and Nut Research Center; crop profiles; articles and more.

12 Illinois State Water Survey Alternative Crop Suitability Maps http://www.isws.illinois.edu/data/altcrops/

13 Maryland Small Ruminant Page http://www.sheepandgoat.com/

14 Univ. of Minnesota

Minnesota Farm Opportunities. Diversification Options. Fruits, Vegetables and Other Crops http://www.mda.state.mn.us/protecting/sustainable/mfo/mfo-fruit-veg.aspx Livestock and Poultry Options http://www.mda.state.mn.us/protecting/sustainable/mfo/mfo-livestock-poultry.aspx

15 Ohio State Univ.

PlantFacts Factsheet Database http://plantfacts.osu.edu/

16 Oklahoma State Univ.

Breeds of Livestock http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/

17 Plants For A Future database

http://www.pfaf.org/user/plantsearch.aspx http://www.pfaf.org/

18 Purdue Univ., Center for New Crops and Plant Products

NewCROP http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/default.html CropSEARCH http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/SearchEngine.html

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19 Rodale New Farm Resource Directory http://newfarm.rodaleinstitute.org/cms/resource.php

20 Univ. of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension, Univ. of Minnesota Extension Service, and the Center

for Alternative Plant and Animal Products Alternative Field Crops Manual http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/index.html

21 Alberta Agriculture

Agriculture Diversification Ventures http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/apa2312 Special Crops http://www.agric.gov.ab.ca/app21/seltopic?cat1=Crops&cat2=Special+Crops&page=true

22 Manitoba Agriculture and Food Crop Production and Management http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/crops/cropproduction.html

23 WorldCrops World Crops for the Northeastern United States http://worldcrops.org/

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This publication was produced by the Alternative Farming Systems Information Center (AFSIC), National Agricultural Library (NAL). For more information, contact:

AFSIC (301) 504-6559 National Agricultural Library afsic@nal.usda.gov United States Department of Agriculture http://afsic.nal.usda.gov/ 10301 Baltimore Ave., Room 132 Beltsville MD 20705